The Dispatch
Share this post
Is Joe Biden Trying to Limit Americans to Four Pounds of Red Meat Per Year?
factcheck.thedispatch.com
The Dispatch Fact Check

Is Joe Biden Trying to Limit Americans to Four Pounds of Red Meat Per Year?

No.

Alec Dent
Apr 26, 2021
31
107
Share this post
Is Joe Biden Trying to Limit Americans to Four Pounds of Red Meat Per Year?
factcheck.thedispatch.com
(Photograph by the Washington Post/Getty Images.)

Over the weekend, Republican politicians and personalities claimed that President Joe Biden’s climate plan would require Americans to cut their red meat consumption by 90 percent, allowing only four pounds of red meat per year. 

Twitter avatar for @laurenboebertLauren Boebert @laurenboebert
Joe Biden’s climate plan includes cutting 90% of red meat from our diets by 2030. They want to limit us to about four pounds a year. Why doesn’t Joe stay out of my kitchen?

April 24th 2021

3,444 Retweets17,037 Likes
Twitter avatar for @DonaldJTrumpJrDonald Trump Jr. @DonaldJTrumpJr
I’m pretty sure I ate 4 pounds of red meat yesterday. That’s going to be a hard NO from me. https://t.co/wvGC19cN6R

Jorge Bonilla @BonillaJL

“Biden-Harris want to take away your carne asada/ ropa vieja/ carne mechada/ empanada meat/ burgers” practically writes itself for 2022/24 https://t.co/I6jqQDiusn

April 24th 2021

5,721 Retweets33,277 Likes
Twitter avatar for @RealMattCouchMatt Couch @RealMattCouch
So Biden says we can have four pounds of red meat per year... My officially response today...
Image

April 24th 2021

3,435 Retweets24,806 Likes
Twitter avatar for @GregAbbott_TXGreg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX
Not gonna happen in Texas!
Image

April 25th 2021

3,549 Retweets20,506 Likes

These claims came on the heels of Biden committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by the year 2030 at a climate summit on Thursday. It appears to have originated with an article  in the British tabloid The Daily Mail that explores hypothetical ways in which Americans could reduce their emissions. In the headline—”How Biden's climate plan could limit you to eat just one burger a MONTH, cost $3.5K a year per person in taxes, force you to spend $55K on an electric car and 'crush' American jobs”—the word “could” is doing a lot of work. As the article notes,  such proposals are not from a Biden plan, as the president “is yet to release any firm details on exactly how such a plan [to reduce greenhouse gas emissions] will affect the daily lives of ordinary Americans.”

The basis for the red meat claim comes not from any plan released or endorsed by Biden, but from a study by the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems published January 13, 2020. The paper calculated that if Americans reduced meat consumption by 50 percent with a 90 percent reduction of beef specifically, there would be a 51 percent decline in greenhouse gas emissions produced by meat production. 

The study concluded: “These results further emphasize the importance of addressing agriculture, food systems and nutritional education when considering climate change interventions. Such dietary changes will require the concerted efforts of policymakers, the food industry and consumers.” Biden has indicated neither this is a path his administration will pursue nor that he would force Americans to cut back on how much meat they eat. 

Correction, April 28: An earlier version of this fact check stated the study on meat consumption came from Michigan University; the school’s name is the University of Michigan.

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

107
Share this post
Is Joe Biden Trying to Limit Americans to Four Pounds of Red Meat Per Year?
factcheck.thedispatch.com
107 Comments

Create your profile

0 subscriptions will be displayed on your profile (edit)

Skip for now

Only Dispatch Members only can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.

Pat Riot
Apr 26, 2021

Republicans have moved from Mr. Potato Head to steak and its still just as pointless.

I'm a big fan of meat-free beer though. Republicans should be more open-minded about these things.

Expand full comment
ReplyCollapse
32 replies
Eric Lanning
Apr 27, 2021

I can't decide what is funnier.... Fox News running with the 'one burger a month' story which was patently false on its face to anyone with a brain, or the fact that Donald Trump Jr. "ate four pounds of red meat yesterday".

Just fools all the way around.

Expand full comment
ReplyCollapse
6 replies
105 more comments…
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2022 The Dispatch
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Publish on Substack Get the app
Substack is the home for great writing